Dedicated to visual politics, the analysis of news images, and the support of unfiltered photojournalism

Sep 02, 2008

Anbar, Minnesota

As much as this newswire photo is informative, documenting pre-emptive raids on activists by Minneapolis police on Friday night and Saturday, it is particularly curious for the abundant presence of the media.

What the photo evokes, as well as echoes, is the utilization of the visual press as an instrument of the state. On top of the morality and legality of harassing activists and placing them in so-called "preventative detention," the other issue here is how much the media -- as a de-facto embedded force -- is being used by "the man," in advance of the convention, to send a message. (What is particularly ironic is also how members of indy media, especially videographers, have been the target of these raids, the goal being a blackout on a non-corporate eye on the protests, civil disobedience and the police and/or para-military response to both.)

Finally, what the photo demonstrates -- in a way most people hardly seem to blink an eye over anymore -- is how much, after Cheney/Bush's elective war in Iraq, people seem to automatically accept the policy of preemption.

Comments

"pre-emptive raids" do remind me to the Chinese, who in "re-emptive measures" secured the smooth performance of the Olympics. But even mor it reminds me to the "putative self-defence", which was used as a juridical term, when after an anti-Shah-demo in Berlin a police officer chased a student into a dark alley and shot him. No doubt, "pre-emptive raid" against own citizens should be added to the "dictionary of the non-human" (a collection of euphemistic terms as used by the Nazi-regime)

One correction, the media is not being used by the "the man." The police detained their targets at the BACK of the house, not the front, and this presented an access problem for the media. A neighbor offered to allow the media a path through her own living room, to her backyard, so that this event could be recorded.

As far as visual impressions, the blue house dominates the frame, which seems to underline the normalcy of the scene. This isn't a dirty, or smoky or run-down backdrop. There are no anarchists, moltov cocktails, or burning tires. This is a postcard from middle america. It is someone's backyard. Why is that important? Because the oppression seems to have moved from the former to the latter. A page has been turned.

The police are not even trying to stop the witnesses from photographing what is unfolding. And this seems very chilling and nazi-like to me. The chinese and soviet way is to stop the evidence, stop the bystanders, throw people in jail. (Not that we don't do that too). But here, they let us watch. And yes, the photographers in the next yard are US. They represent every one of us. The Nazis didn't care who watched - let them watch. Let the intellectuals watch, the grocery man, the paperboy, the catholics, jews, the lovers on a park bench. Let them all watch, because THEY CAN DO NOTHING. Some might even be next. That's what we are all doing in fact, waiting our turn.

As far as the author's comments about the public accepting premption, and not blinking an eye...this didn't happen today or yesterday. It didn't even happen at the start of the war. It took decades. We were primed for it for years.

"The police are not even trying to stop the witnesses from photographing what is unfolding. And this seems very chilling and nazi-like to me."

More chilling and nazi-like for me was video of the Amy Goodman arrest during which police formed a wall around the event after the very beginning and all photography was blocked by the police. Very scary. Up close view of a police state.

Al Queda hates us for our freedoms!
The GOP is defending the freedom of assembly, press,and to seek redress of grievences against the government. As you see from the photo not a single person was injured by Al Quada nor a single freedom lost by Al Quada conduct.

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

The whole business was orchestrated from Washington (Homeland Security and FBI). Videos show the police marching in formation and chanting like military squads. Ours might not yet be a police state, but Minneapolis is definitely a police city.

BTW, the afternoon after Amy Goodman and her producers were roughed up and arrested, there was a press conference. Max Blumenthal was there and reported that only the alternative media asked real and challenging questions. The mainstream media made queries that, essentially, reflected the logical fallacy of "begging the question." They assumed that those arrested were criminals or dangerous radicals.

I disagree that most Americans 'accept' it. The media sure does, but we have little power other than protest, and then this is what happens. I did a post on this yesterday, "From Tiananmen Square to the RNC and Beyond."

We all know Amy Goodman and her crew. We all know they are not anarchists. But they are respected journalists and videographers who do not have corporate protection. Disney and GE don't give a fig what happens to them. They are no more than an ant crawling across the floor. Everyone who works for the corporate/republican media knows that their high-paying jobs can be lost in a nanosecond if they don't toe the line.

"You see what power is -- holding someone else's fear in your hand and showing it to them!": Amy Tan via ICH.

That is what they are showing us. The end of the Constitution. The end of America.